A broad body of literature has been published regarding roof-harvested rainwater quality around the world. In particular, the presence of fecal indicator bacteria and pathogenic microorganisms has raised concerns regarding the acceptability of rainwater for potable and non-potable uses. As the use of molecular assays has improved understanding of the diverse microbial communities present in rainwater tanks and their role in providing benefits or harm to human health, a comprehensive review is needed to summarize the state of the science in this area. To provide a summary of microbial contaminants in rainwater tanks and contextual factors, a comprehensive review was conducted here to elucidate the uses of rainwater, factors affecting water quality, concentrations of fecal indicators and pathogens, the attribution of pathogens to host sources using microbial source tracking, microbial ecology, human health risks determined using epidemiological approaches and quantitative microbial risk assessment, and treatment approaches for mitigating risks. Research gaps were identified for pathogen concentration data, microbial source tracking approaches for identifying the sources of microbial contamination, limitations to current approaches for assessing viability, treatment, and maintenance practices. Frameworks should be developed to assess and prioritize these factors in order to optimize public health promotion for roof-harvested rainwater.

关于世界各地屋顶采收的雨水质量的大量文献已经发表。特别地，粪便指示剂细菌和病原微生物的存在引起了人们对雨水对于可饮用和不可饮用用途的可接受性的关注。由于分子测定法的使用可以更好地理解雨水箱中存在的各种微生物群落及其在为人类健康带来益处或危害方面的作用，因此需要进行全面的综述以总结该领域的科学状况。为了总结雨水箱中的微生物污染物和相关因素，这里进行了全面的回顾，以阐明雨水的使用，影响水质的因素，粪便指标和病原体的浓度，使用微生物来源跟踪，微生物生态学，使用流行病学方法和定量微生物风险评估确定的人类健康风险以及减轻风险的治疗方法来确定病原体对宿主的来源。确定了病原体浓度数据的研究空白，用于识别微生物污染源的微生物来源跟踪方法，当前评估生存能力，治疗和维护方法的方法的局限性。应制定评估和优先考虑这些因素的框架，以优化公共卫生促进屋顶采收的雨水。确定了病原体浓度数据的研究空白，用于识别微生物污染源的微生物来源跟踪方法，当前评估生存力，治疗和维护方法的方法的局限性。应制定评估和优先考虑这些因素的框架，以优化公共卫生促进屋顶采收的雨水。确定了病原体浓度数据的研究空白，用于识别微生物污染源的微生物来源跟踪方法，当前评估生存力，治疗和维护方法的方法的局限性。应制定评估和优先考虑这些因素的框架，以优化公共卫生促进屋顶采收的雨水。